About to pull the plug on a 2011 Raptor Tomorrow :) Need light!

Hi Y'all...

As I said in another introductory thread, I'm buying some property, 9.1 acres adjacent to a national forest in the North Georgia Mountains... I NEED a 4WD vehicle, specifically a heavy duty 4WD as I have to cross/ford a river 3 times (2ft at its deepest) to get to my lot. The Raptor seems to fit the bill perfectly... it was a Raptor or a used H1.

I have to trade in my 2009 Porsche Carerra though... yeah, I'll miss the Porsche (came out of a 2007 Z06)... I test drove a Raptor last week and it is every bit bad to the bone as a "sports car" is...

I'd much rather acquire this land than a Ferrari... just my priorities.

The 2011 Raptor I'm looking at is all sivler (no graphics) with black leather interior (no red accents)... 4 door, loaded with NAV, back-up camera, rear step, trailer hitch/tow...

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Are there any immediate aftermarket parts I need? Cold Air is a given...

But a long time ago when I had a Chevy Silverado, they made an after-market fuse that was a simple plug-n-play fuse in the fuse-box you inserted and when you put your high beams on, the low beams and the driving lights stayed on! Any thing like that out there for Ford?

Driving through the sticks so to speak... I see some Raptors with after-market lights on the front bumper/grill that tie into the 4 AUX switches...

Any suggestions for light?

With this property in the middle of nowhere, literally... I NEED as much light as I can get.

Honestly, if you're going to be using the truck out in the woods just skip the cold air intake...between dust/dirt clogging an open filter, you may also run the risk of sucking up some water if you're gonna do some water crossing. That, and without a tune a CAI isn't going to give you the best bang for your buck.

For lighting, go with a 40" LED light bar like Rigid or Vision X...you can get one to mount behind the grille if you don't want a whole bumper setup or light bar or you can get a light bar mounted on the roof with 40"...I suspect that will be more light than you need!

I'd shy away from the 40" and go for the 20" if you're needing lots of usable light.

Check out my flickr page for pics of all the different setups from the drivers seat.

But regardless, if you're going to be getting the truck wet that often, you'll definitely want to maybe extend the rear axle breathers [and be sure it's hooked up even] because mine from the factory was hanging down low about an inch or two from the ground.

Here is the 40" mounted behind the grill:



Here is the 20" mounted in the lower bumper:



Here, they are on together:



The 40" mounts in a location behind the grill that is really obstructed and it's actually mounted in a manner that requires it to point up, ever so slightly. That so slightly a ways in front of the truck is quite a bit.

The 20" is smaller yet very powerful and when off-road/in a place I can use all my lights -- I use the 20" more than the 40".

The Raptor has a H13 style bulb, highs and lows in one, so no chance of running them both.

A CAI is not going to do much unless you team it up with a tune. The stock exhaust is pretty free flowing but a header back setup will definitely help the whole system.

As far as lighting first thing is to upgrade your stock bulbs to a HID Bi-Xenon system. If your doing a lot of high speed you want 4 HID's on something like the Ford Racing light bar, that will throw light farther then you can see. If your not doing high speeds a 40" rigid will throw plenty of light.

No point in getting out in the sticks and getting stuck. ADD also makes a roof mounted light and then wire in a Rigid D2's for some light out the back side and you are set. I am also sitting on the Stainless Works LTH's and dual exhaust setup. If you want to see what these look like in person (the whole shebang), I should have them on my truck in a couple of weeks. Take a day trip up to Nashville to see for yourself

Hey swoop that is an awesome picture to see how bright the lights are between 20" and 40" looks about the same visibility? I don't think a lot needs to be done to raptor aftermarket to make it a very versital vehicle off road. Those rigid light bars sure look like they carry there weight in gold though!

swoop1156 said:

I'd shy away from the 40" and go for the 20" if you're needing lots of usable light.

Check out my flickr page for pics of all the different setups from the drivers seat.

But regardless, if you're going to be getting the truck wet that often, you'll definitely want to maybe extend the rear axle breathers [and be sure it's hooked up even] because mine from the factory was hanging down low about an inch or two from the ground.

Here is the 40" mounted behind the grill:



Here is the 20" mounted in the lower bumper:



Here, they are on together:



The 40" mounts in a location behind the grill that is really obstructed and it's actually mounted in a manner that requires it to point up, ever so slightly. That so slightly a ways in front of the truck is quite a bit.

The 20" is smaller yet very powerful and when off-road/in a place I can use all my lights -- I use the 20" more than the 40".

Click to expand...

So..... your actually getting more light output from your 20" bar then the 40"?
Because the 40" bar is restricted from the grill and pointing upward?
Im considering buying a Rigid light bar as well.....

You will not be disappointed in the trade off from Carrera to Raptor. Owner of both and I personally prefer to drive the Rap 90% of the time.

One or multiple of the various LED light bars should set you straight! Sounds like a fun drive to and from your property!

I had both and i prefer 4 50w HIDs to an LED set-up, the light is thrown a lot farther and at speed it turns night into day. My 2 cents!

Also, back up auxiliary lights are a must. Rigid makes the duallys that are good, and im using vision X solstice LEDs and i absolutely love them, the light output is incredible.

I have to say I'm with Jake on the HIDs... Lightforce also lets you adjust the beam of their lights with a twist of the housing like a mag light. It only takes seconds to switch from spot to flood. Sorry I don't have better images from behind the wheel but I'll get them next time I'm off-road. Aux Backup lights come in handy too. Though if you have a back-up camera you might want to darken them a bit due to the low quality camera. All it would take would be to cut out a square piece of ND and tape it in. That way you could remove it if you ever wanted to. The Rigid D2s do look quite impressive but I'm also really happy with my visionXs...

Neutral Density Material



As stated a cold air intake is not a good idea for anything thats going to see off road use. Especially if there is water involved. Get a drop in filter, exhaust and tune and you will be a lot happier and safer when off road.